From Zero to Hero Beginners Course

Kayaking is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. The feeling of independence and achievement is topped off by running rapids on a stunning river with mountains and alpine meadows adding the serene beauty!

With a week of instruction and practice you will gain a solid foundation and experience of kayaking various styles and characters of Class 2 whitewater. Taking a one week Beginners Kayaking Course is the perfect way to become a competent whitewater kayaker in a short time!

Course details

Day 1: on the lake

Once we have our kayaking apparel, we will adjust the kayaks to make sure they are the perfect fit with regards to length, width and volume. If you have a good connection with your kayak, it will make controlling and stabilising the boat way easier thus giving you more confidence.

It is a short drive up to one of the mountain lakes we use here in the Arlberg with stunning views of snowcapped mountains and glaciers. There the Kayak School Instructors will give you a full safety briefing including demonstrations followed by a gentle warm up and a few dry land practices. Now it is time to get onto the water!! We spend time getting used to our kayaks, gaining confidence and balance. Learning to turn the kayak is first, followed by the fundamental skill of forward paddling through to lunch.

Lunch will be taken at one of the benches and tables by the side of the lake. Throughout the day your Instructor will set you challenges and, while giving feedback to each person helping them to improve their techniques throughout the course.  With fun and games also included in the activities you will be surprised just how much more confident you can become within a short time. In the afternoon we start the session with some practices and techniques we learnt in the morning.

We continue learning more fundamental techniques such as edging the kayak and preventing the kayak from capsizing or flipping. Throughout the day you will have plenty of opportunity to paddle around the lake and with individual feedback to really help you develop!

By the end of the first day we come to the stage where everyone will have to perform a wet exit. Sometimes this happens during the day when we are playing games such a canoe polo or tag. If not, at the end you will receive another explanation from your Instructor about what to do. Then in your own time you flip the kayak over, pull the deck and exit. It is just a few metres to the bank where you collect the paddle and empty the water out of the kayak and that is day 1. A great start not only to the course but a fantastic introduction to the sport of whitewater kayaking!

Day 2: Intro to white water

Our plan and goal for today is to kayak a very mellow piece of moving water, getting used to the current of the river and feeling more balanced and confident the further we continue. We first start the morning with river theory by the bank then we go through the skills we learnt on day 1.

We stop along the way (eddy out) to practice essential river techniques such as moving from one side of the river to the other (ferry gliding) or carving a kayak (turning). Not forgetting to take in the amazing mountain scenery.  It is just a few kilometres of a moving Class 1 river but it is such a great feeling to have kayaked your first river!

Day 3: eskimo Roll

The eskimo roll is an essential technique for whitewater kayaking. We begin our first steps learning to eskimo roll in a swimming pool. The warm and clear water makes going upside down a lot more enjoyable. Our instructors will be with you the whole time building up your confidence, working on the essential techniques of hip flicks, knee rolls and understanding that your head must always come up last! Once you understand the fundamentals of the eskimo roll we then bring in the paddle to the equation.

Day 3: whitewater Class 2

We are going to be spending the day on a river. Depending on water levels we have a choice of 2 rivers:

Lech River

The Lech is absolutely stunning. Just to reach the put-in we drive over the Arlberg and Flexen Passes to the village of Lech. Then we drive high above the Lech Gorge before descending into the valley and our put-in.

After a quick shuttle of the vehicle we start our journey. We are kayaking on a beautiful river in the heart of a Nature Park. Along the way we eddy out to work on ferry gliding, eddy drills and just admire the scenery.

There are plenty of waves and easy rapids to negotiate and with both a cycle and famous walking path following the river we kayak past the onlookers with style!

We stop for lunch by a rustic wooden bridge, there are a few benches to sit and look at the pastures and grasslands full of alpine flowers and the steep snowcapped mountains of the Lechtaler Alps.

We continue our journey down the river with stops along the way to practice and work on our fundamental techniques.  The final third of the river we just go with the flow, kayaking downstream, running waves and rapids, eddying in and out maybe to catch a breath, drink some water or to reflect on the wave we just hit or rapid we kayaked.

River Inn

The River Inn is a firm favourite of ours. More known for its big rapids and whitewater, there is however a very quiet side of the River Inn and it is this section that works perfectly for our Beginners Course.

From the put-in we have plenty of places and opportunities to practice all of our whitewater fundamental skills  and techniques.  

We take lunch by the side of the river with fantastic views of a castle built onto the cliffs.

After lunch the river starts to pick up and so do the waves and rapids.  We bounce down fun rapids enjoying the odd break in whitewater to take all the views in. Sometimes we see climbers on the crag by the side of the river watching us running a rapid.

At the take-out our vehicle is waiting with our dry clothes. A final few photos, pack the kit away, secure the kayaks and we head back to base Arlberg.

Both the River Lech and River Inn provide a fantastic end to a thrilling day on Kayak School Arlberg’s Beginner Kayaking Course!

Day 4: whitewater Class 2

Another day spent kayaking either on the River Lech or River Inn. Perfecting our whitewater kayaking techniques with quality instruction, emphasising on eddying in and out plus running rapids and waves. With more time spent on the river, the better our understanding of whitewater becomes. We will also continue our path of the eskimo roll by introducing it sometime throughout the day, firstly in an eddy!

Day 5: eskimo roll

We are back in the swimming pool again developing our roll making it more successful or solid as we like to say as kayakers. With a wealth of experience our instructors will find innovative ways of improving your eskimo roll.

Day 5: whitewater Class 2-3

As you get more and more used to sitting in a kayak we mix it up with a range of coaching sessions, be it various styles and character of eddy’s to punching waves and maintaining the line. Let’s also not forget that we will be continuing our development of the eskimo roll and bringing it into a whitewater scenario. Throughout the day you get lots of time to run bigger waves and slightly longer rapids.

Day 6: whitewater Class 2-3

Our final day we spend the day kayaking on the Imst Gorge section of the River Inn. In the morning you kayak a section you already know and have kayaked before. After lunch by the side of the river we head to the big waves and longer rapids of the Imst Gorge. It is an amazing end to a fantastic week kayaking various styles, characters of rivers and whitewater. Becoming a competent Class 2 kayaker with a solid foundation and experience of Class 3 whitewater.

Taking a one week Beginners Kayaking Course is the perfect way to become a competent whitewater kayaker in a short time!

Dates & Prices